New method to quantify pig methane emissions

Danish researchers have proposed a novel method that could help quantify methane emissions and degradation processes associated with manure management.

A news article by Aarhus University, and published on PigProgress.net describes how the desire to quantify methane emissions from livestock manure has become a pressing one in the European Union, since the European Commission requires its member states to drastically reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture. Reduction, however, can only be proven when it is possible to measure emission levels, before and after. The novel method was published recently in the journal PloS ONE.

Photo: Ben Jansen

The news article describes that the new method proposed is based on laboratory measurements of methane production in liquid manure samples collected on farms. A simple model is used to calculate daily emissions. This model can then be used to evaluate effects of changes in management or treatment of the manure, for example biogas treatment.